Ricoh adds a mid-range 360-degree camera

You likely haven’t been convinced that you need a 360-degree camera in your life yet, but the Theta SC isn’t designed to revolutionize the space so much as it is designed to help mainstream it, offering up a mid-tier for the company’s line.

Mid-tier in 360-degree camera land means $300, which isn’t all that much lower than the top-of-the-line Theta S’s $350 asking price. That said, the company hasn’t really cut all that many corners either. For the most part, the click-to-shoot camera maintains aesthetic consistency with the higher end model — albeit a bit more colorful this time out (pictured above with some fun-loving folk).

The big differentiators here are the dropping of the micro-HDMI port, which ditches live streaming functionality and reducing continuous recording time from 25 to five minutes. As for what it does have, you’ll find two f2.0 lenses and 12-megapixel sensors for shooting stills and 1080p video. The new camera is available now through Ricoh’s site.

The imaging company is also introing a redesigned app for iOS and Android, which promises to further streamline the photo/video taking process, already one of the camera line’s biggest selling points.